Obama Faces Chlorine Gas, ISIS and a Bear in Syria

[The Presidential Daily Brief] [The Presidential Daily Brief] IMPORTANT August 20, 2016 [Rescue workers remove a body from a building reportedly attacked by a Syrian helicopter Thursday. Source: Getty] [Chemical Weapons Report Might Move U.S. Syria Policy] As the bloody, dusty visage of Aleppo's 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh captivates the media, President Obama faces a two-front war. While gaining ground against ISIS, he's barely avoiding conflict with Bashar Assad's government. A U.N. report expected next week may say the regime, as observers contend, "continues to use chlorine gas with impunity." Assad officially relinquished  [chemical weapons] in 2013, but  reported attacks persist. With fresh horrors exposed, Obama may seek U.N. Security Council sanctions - predictably vetoed by Russia, which began launching cruise missiles into the fray from warships on Friday. Sources: [Politico], [BBC], [NYT], [DW], [CNN] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [With Little Hope of Winning, Trump Reboots Campaign] Where are the lifeboats? Some GOP operatives compare Donald Trump's reshuffling of his [campaign staff] to "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic," but the band plays on. With poll numbers tanking, campaign chair Paul Manafort, whose moderated message was supposed to right the ship, resigned on Friday. Some skeptics even say the mogul doesn't care if he wins and is planning a conservative news network to rival Fox. With no rescue in sight, Trump's softening his persona, expressing "regret" for hurtful words and touring Louisiana - to see the effects of rising waters. Sources: [Politico], [NY Magazine], [NBC], [NPR] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [America's New Iraq War Isn't Just in the Air] These boots are on the ground. Despite President Obama's careful syntax, American special forces are heavily involved in fighting [ISIS] in Iraq. The tale of soldiers like Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler - the first of three Americans killed in action - shows battle-hardened Americans leading the charge. As it continues to lose ground, ISIS has reverted to guerrilla tactics like car bombs, while Americans are working closely with Kurds preparing to retake Mosul - where the Islamic State first captured U.S. weapons and attention - in the biggest counteroffensive to date. Sources: [Buzzfeed] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Why Aren't Any of the Crash-Baiting Bankers in Prison?] Put away the pitchforks. Despite public rage, no [Wall Street] figure has been imprisoned for the chicanery that led to the 2008 financial crash - but maybe that's OK, says Sam Buell, federal prosecutor on the historic Enron fraud case. While the crisis involved large-scale malfeasance, it's hard to prove one banker intentionally duped another, and the American public was only indirectly victimized by reckless investment schemes. Tougher regulation, he argues, is a more vital and reasoned response, as a few high-profile sentencings are not going to fix the system. Sources: [The Atlantic] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] Briefly Know This: Expectant moms are being told to avoid yet another [Zika-prone area] of Miami. U.S. swimmer Gunnar Bentz [apologized] for the Rio "robbery" incident, but insisted he never lied about it. And new Clinton Foundation rules [refusing corporate and foreign money] would shut out half of its donors. Hear This: FiveThirtyEight's inaugural science podcast, [Sparks], tackles the biological and psychological issues of being transgender, starting with the work of controversial science historian and bioethicist Alice Dreger, author of Galileo's Middle Finger. Read This: After a generation-long fishing moratorium, [cod are making a comeback] in the waters off Newfoundland. "Fishermen and scientists here haven't just been finding more cod, they've been seeing a glimmer of something else that had forsaken fishing towns like Petty Harbor: hope." [Sponsored by: The Contenders: 16 for '16] [What Does It Take to Win the Most Powerful Job on Earth?] Starting Sept. 13, OZY revisits the most compelling U.S. presidential campaigns of the past half century to uncover the gory details, hidden insights and lessons learned in The Contenders: 16 for '16, a new documentary series airing on PBS every Tuesday. From Shirley Chisholm to Ross Perot to Barack Obama, a few bold women and men have run a political gantlet like no other in pursuit of the world's highest office - but among the many contenders, there can be only one winner. Sources: [OZY] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] INTRIGUING [Usain Bolt Wins Relay Gold to Triple His Triples] Three races, nine golds. The Jamaican considered the greatest sprinter ever anchored the 4x100-meter relay Friday, charging ahead of Japan to score gold for his third straight Games. That mirrored his triple crowns in the individual 100-meter and 200-meter sprints earlier in the Rio [Olympics]. On the same track, the U.S. relay team finished third, but a baton pass disqualification - now being challenged - handed the bronze medal to Canada. U.S. women won gold in their 4x100 relay, however, beating Jamaica and Britain to defend their title.  Sources: [SI], [ESPN] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [OZY Fusion Fest, Right Where You Are] Think. Eat. Rock. Ok, so you'll have to provide your own munchies this time, but you can still groove to the music of Wyclef Jean, have your thoughts provoked by the New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell and have your culinary acumen elevated by star chef Alex Guarnaschelli, among many others who'll strike your fancy and fire those dormant neurons. Tune in to Fusion Network on Sunday at 8 p.m. or 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. If you don't have Fusion in your cable package, you can watch the show on Apple TV, Hulu or Roku. Sources: [OZY] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [The Beloved Myth of the Underground Railroad] All aboard the historical revisionist train. The secret network that helped escaped slaves make it north to freedom in a pre-Civil War United States is still taught in schools today, but even its remembrance poses problems. First, white abolitionists working [the railroad] are more likely to be celebrated than Black ones who faced far greater danger. And second, the railroad, with its simple focus on liberation and Northern enlightenment, helps modern Americans forget the horrors of slavery, and the systemic discrimination against Black people to this day. Sources: [New Yorker] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Leading Bollywood Stunt Woman Kicks Back Against Gender Roles] She makes it look easy. Geeta Tandon is defying gender stereotypes in Bollywood - but it's been a tough road. Forced to wed at age 15, Tandon fled a violent husband with her two kids; she eventually became so desperate for work she agreed - without training - to jump off a building. Today, she's a self-taught pro and one of the few [women] in her field willing to do high-speed car chases. In the process, Tandon's smashing gender norms and providing inspiration to wives still trapped in abusive marriages. Sources: [BBC Magazine] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [How Tourism Is Destroying Iceland] They all want a piece. In a few decades, Iceland's tourism has exploded, transforming the country from industrial fishing capital to a sub-arctic vacation hot spot, with foreign visitors increasing by some 264 percent in five years. But not long after the [2008 financial crisis] wrecked Iceland's economy, the influx is impacting the country in myriad ways, from rampant Airbnb growth causing fiscal and social unrest to clueless hikers harming its unique ecosystem. And there are troubling international ramifications: If an affluent nation can't cope with "overtourism," how well can developing countries fare? Sources: [Skift] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] Your 8 must reads to get you ahead of the curve FLASHBACK [He Convinced 2.8 Million People to Give Him One Penny Each] [Read In Full] TRUE STORY [My Teacher Shamed a Dyslexic and Illiterate Me. Now I'm an Author.] [Read In Full] POV [Malcolm Gladwell: Get Angry at America's Best Colleges] [Read In Full] 20M people love reading OZY every month. Be part of the revolution. [Facebook] [Twitter] [Instagram] [Vimeo] [Youtube] Add us to your Address Book | Having trouble viewing this email? [Read Online] This email was sent to {EMAIL} This email was sent by: OZY Media 800 West El Camino Mountain View, CA 94040 [Manage Subscriptions] | [Unsubscribe from this email] | [Privacy Policy]